Vintage & Antique Japanese Fabrics by Piece: Other Type Fabrics

7610:1960's Japanese Pongee Silk Ohshima Tsumugi, 60 inches Arai-Hari

Rare Japanese Textiles:

1960's Ohshima Tsumugi (Pongee) Silk Fabric
Arai-Hari

Modernistic, Iridescent Striation(weft)

Catalog# 7610

Width:14.125 inches / 35.88 cm
Length: 60 inches / 152.4 cm

US$19.00 per piece
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Item Details and Description:

Fabric History/Pedigree: 1960's fabric from kimono pieces from an Arai Hari (special Japanese kimono cleaner -- see info on Arai-Hari HERE from John Marshall, expert on Japanese textiles .)

Description: This is a lightweight, slightly translucent Ohshima tsumugi silk from Amami Islands, Japan; The Fabric is off-whitebackground filled with tiny 1/16th inch (.0625)/1.59mm pixels, light black;These pixel elements are arranged in a symmetrical diagonal grid pattern; what sets this fabric apart is its use of weft threads in various lighter pastel hues of blue, lavender, mauve, purple, red and yellow; this weft effect, when viewing the fabric from a distance, is sort of a lateral waves feeling, and with slight iridescence; 1/4 inch / 6.35mm selvage on each side; Please view our closeups.

Cultural Background Information:

Details on this part of Japan's special pongee silk-making process can be found on the National Foundation for Promoting the National Costume of Japan website, which explains the natural plant dyes and mud etc. used in making Ohshima Tsumugi, quoted here:

Characteristics: A plain woven silk fabric with pre-dyed scoured threads both for warp and weft. The color is refined and calm and the fabric is soft and difficult to wrinkle. Threads are dyed with plant dyes such as "Techiki" (Raphilolepis umbellata) and indigo (Persicaria tinctoria) with a technique, peculiar only to "Oshima Tsumugi," called "Ori Jime." As a variety, an additional treatment is made to the dyed thread by dipping them in muddy water. It is "Doro(mud) Zome(dyeing)." There are several kinds of "Oshima Tsumugi":"Doro Oshima," "Ai(indigo) Oshima," "Doro Ai Oshima," "Iro(color) Oshima" and "Natsu(summer) Oshima."

Recommended for making scarf/accessories.

Colors: Please use our text color descriptions to complement your sense of the fabric due to differences in contrast and color on different devices.

Condition: EXCELLENT.

Popular with our antique Japanese textile aficionados and collectors.